First, the Bad News ...

As I write, I am astride this really tall, you might even say “high,” horse …

By the time this issue reaches readers’ hands, there should be few who have not heard of American graduate student John Tobin and his arrest, trial and release from the clutches of the Russian system of justice on drug charges (and the strange allegations of espionage and counter-espionage). The day after Tobin’s return, his father was already putting American publishers on notices that his son had an “amazing” story to tell and that he would start writing right away.

Perhaps it is natural that such an event rises to the top of the news. “If it bleeds, it leads,” is the motto of American television news. Bad news, titillating news, shocking news—our voyeuristic culture can’t seem to get enough of it.